Aiptasia Control

[BJanecka]

I've read some posts that the April meeting was about Aiptasia control. Having missed that meeting, can a few people summarize the options that were discussed and if a "best" method was found to get rid of them. My current outbreak is getting way out of control! Thanks.

[DeletedAccount]

Berghia from Larry are an AWESOME way to go. He is very busy, send him a PM. His name on here in INSTAR.

[GaryP]

A predator like Berghia are the way to go. Other means of control will leave you constantly fighting them. It'll be a never ending battle. No method will ever completely eliminate them, but berghia is your best bet for control.

[Thunderkat]

I found two of those critters in my tank and pulled them out with tweezers. Is that good or bad? I saw the chemical treatments in the store but opted for mechanical extraction.

[Marlin]

I got lots of them on some new live rock. I put two pepperment shrimp in the tank and they cleaned them out in two days.

Rick

[::pete::]

Thunderkat
You might think you pulled them out!! Any litle piece left behind will regenerate!!

Marlin
Peppermints are a hit and miss and then go on to bother other things you want in your tank.

[falcondob]

I use the two-part marine epoxy (get it from Home Depot or Lowes, 1/5 the cost). Touch the little bugger and when it goes into its hole, plug it up. Sealed up like King Tut! No mess, no cells, no problem. (One caveat, it might come out another hole, so keep eye on rock. I have not had this happen however.)
John

[Thunderkat]

If peppermint shrimp eat the aips, then would they also eat mushrooms and zoos?

[GaryP]

If peppermint shrimp eat the aips, then would they also eat mushrooms and zoos?

Yes, they can, as well as that RBTA that you are so proud of.

[Instar]

I had 15 peppermint shrimp in my 75 for a while. Since they ate my tubastrea coral, sebae anemone and all the filter feeding sessile animals they pulled out of the live rock and some coral polyps, I decided they had to go. I even fed them on purpose to stop all that but they destroyed everything except bristle worms anyway. They pulled polyps off the montipora digitata too, althought that didn't seem to bother the digitata. I tore the tank apart and got them out. Today that tank has hundreds of aiptasia in it even though the pepps cleaned them all out. Guess they aren't as efficient as I thought on the pests and they proved to be pests themselves. Aiptasia rock tank on an expensive cherry stand. Other than the beautiful tangs in there it seems like a waste compared to what it once was. The peppermint shrimp no doubt were major contributors to that. I tired injections too because the tank was large enough to support chemical methods I thought. As it turned out is was a waste of time in the long run. The tank is a dessert wasteland now except for the aiptasia.

My other reef, the 125 on the other hand, got the Berghia treatment. No worries, well, I worried for a while cause they seem to take their time about it, but, aiptasia are all gone now and I didn't lift a finger on it! Little aiptasia were stinging my coral colonies and reall messing with them. Couldnt get in there to help them out the colones were so dense. It now supports the largest 3 ultra RBTAs I've seen in addition to a bunch of other things growing all over. I even have a naturally reproducing colt coral in there! The contrast is amazing between the two systems. All I can think of when I think of the Berghia v. nudibranch now is that ad on TV that ends in the word "priceless".

[CD]

Larry-
Are the Berghia primarily active at night? I was so excited a few days ago when I spotted one of the Berghia at the opposite end of the tank from which they'd been introduced (won three at the meeting at StephenA's house). It was during one of my "night watch" sessions. Also, will they breed successfully in a reef tank, or does that have to be in a tank specifically for that purpose?

Wendy

[Thunderkat]

I went and looked up pictures of aiptasia and I am starting to think I might have killed two of my zoos.

Do single polyps of zoos venture out on their own? The two "aiptasia" I removed looked nothing like the pictures I saw online, they looked like my zoos and were only about 4 inches from my zoo rock.

The two "aiptasia" looked like my zoos but were brown and the tentacles were smaller and stubbly. This morning I noticed two of my zoos had turned brown. Do zoos change color?

Am I a migratory zoo murderer?

[CD]

Could they be majano?

Check out the pics here:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/aiptasia_impressions/aiptaisia_impressions.htm

Wendy

[Thunderkat]

Whoa, thx Wendy for that link. Thats what they are (were). I think thats also what stung me when I was handling the live rock, it hurt for a few minutes but only minor pain, was kinda cool.

I wonder if the tweezer extraction was enough for those guys.

[CD]

I wonder if the tweezer extraction was enough for those guys.


I kinda doubt it. They (majano) can be just as pesky as aiptasia in that any portion of it that's left on the rock can regenerate...even "tiny" portions. Maybe you can borrow someone's Raccoon Butterfly for awhile - they will definitely eat the majano, but will also wipe out helpful worms (featherdusters and the like). Berghia won't eat the stuff.

LOL - I may be nutz, but I think majano is kinda pretty - too bad it's a nuisance anemone :roll

Wendy

[Thunderkat]

Ohhh, they are pretty (http://www.melevsreef.com/id/majano.html).

[Polkster13]

You want some? You can have the ones that are in my hospital tank.